Industrial control systems can be employed to regulate operation of equipment in an industrial environment, where operation of the equipment can include process(es) typically directed to accomplishment of a complex task or a streamlined, automated task, such as large scale manufacturing. Regulation of operation of the equipment and related process(es) typically exploits and produces substantive amounts of control data, which include, for example, configuration data such as controller code, human-machine interface (HMI) data, process recipe(s) and report definitions, or the like. In addition, operation of industrial control systems also produces both real-time and historical data about the status of regulated equipment and related process(es), the data including, for example, alarms, process values, and audit/error logs. To operate industrial control systems, various HMIs in the industrial environment render control data (real-time (or last known) and historical data) through operator interfaces which convey process overviews or equipment detail. Multiple operator interfaces can be created to provide rich information related to the various control processes implemented in the industrial control system so that the operator can switch between them to monitor various aspects of the equipment and related process(es) under control.
Conventional control systems typically present data, such as operation data, associated with a control system in engineering units that are static in nature. However, different users can desire different engineering units with regard to the same type of data. For example, one user may desire to view an item of data associated with a control device in inches, while another user may desire to view that item of data in centimeters. Certain conventional control systems have allowed a user to define engineering unit conversions on individual display fields on HMI devices. However, such conventional processes are time consuming and prone to errors.
Conventional control systems also typically present data associated with a control system in a particular language in a static manner. However, different users can desire viewing data associated with a control system in different languages.
The above-described deficiencies of today's systems are merely intended to provide an overview of some of the problems of conventional systems, and are not intended to be exhaustive. Other problems with the state of the art and corresponding benefits of some of the various non-limiting embodiments may become further apparent upon review of the following detailed description.